Anybody ever dived Bougainville Island, PNG?

That of course includes Buka, surrounding islands, and the Shortlands (Solomons). Looking for any kind of info re: divesites, wrecks, places to, places not to go. Grateful for any information!

PS: Yeah, I know they've had all kinds of problems there in the last 25 years, and security will of course be an issue. Can't be worse than Wewak, though. This is not a pipedream, and not a hypothetical question either :-)

EMail this guy: Rob van der Loos <rvl@kulamail.net>

He lives in PNG

The closest I have come is Gizo and Kolombangara in the western Solomons, so not much help I'm afraid. But I do have two suggestions:

Try contacting Danny and Kerry Kennedy at Dive Gizo (divegizo@solomon.com.sb). They are as likely as anyone to know about diving the Shortlands. The liveaboards don't go that far.

If you plan to cross between Bougainville and the Solomons by boat, be aware that the two countries regularly close the "border" (such as it is) to boat traffic. Enforcement is patchy but not non-existent. I would not trust local police to be on top of the current status either but recommend getting the official info from the customs/immigration agencies in the capitals

Thanks!